I-phone GPS apps recommendation and questions

[Hootsma]

I've used Gaia on my iPhone 4s and it has worked well, but it's a tradeoff. I like having a multipurpose unit - iPhone = camera, gps, clock, hammock hang calculator, entertainment (music, book on tape...). With a gps, all you get is a gps. The resolution and screen size on the iPhone when viewing aerials is far superior to my 62s as well. I guess some have cameras, but my 62S does not. But, the problem with my iPhone is battery life. All those extra features tend to drain the battery pretty quickly, and so does the cold. I've found that my phone, when set in airplane mode and all of the background apps are shut down and the phone kept warm, uses about 6 - 10% per day, strictly in standby mode. How many days afield you get out of one battery depends on your usage. I've found, for me, that number is around 2 days or less. So, I need a battery pack to get buy. And that's where the tradeoff occurs. I have a New Trent iTorch (4.5 ounces). Which is a 5,200 mAh battery. Theoretically, I should get 3.5+ charges out of it (5,200/1,430 = 3.63 charges). But, due to inefficiencies and losses, I get about 1.8 charges out of it. That's not going to cut it for more than a 4 or 5 day trip. That means a bigger (ie heavier battery). Jumping up to a +/-10,000 mAh puts me in the 10 - 12 ounce range. This will give me around 4 charges, which would be plenty for a 8-10 day trip, but the weight penalty is too much when compared to the alternative. I can substitute my Garmin 62S with a spare set of lithium AA batteries for the battery pack and come in at 8 ounces. The spare batteries can be used for my headlamp as well as the gps and now I have 2 gps (one as a backup). This made more sense to me as a backpack hunter. If, I were doing a spike camp or similar setup, I'd bring the battery pack and gps.

Last year, I brought only the iPhone and iTorch for a 7 day trip. And, if I didn't have others in my group who took care of the morning alarm, so that I could keep my phone off at night, I never would have made it through the trip. Getting back to camp in the dark without a gps to guide me, would have been pretty difficult.

An interesting feature of the Garmin 62s, is you can set an alarm on it, and then turn the unit completely off. And when the alarm time arrives, the unit automatically turns itself on and sounds the alarm. So, no wasted batteries to have an alarm. I don't wear a watch anymore, so this is an issue for me.

 

[fingers]

fingers,

Are you looking for more road and water information than is already on the USGS topo? In my area, the USGS 7.5 minute map layer has that information.

Yeah, in Arizona the topo's have very little of the forest roads or tanks.

 

[Matt Cashell]

Yeah, in Arizona the topo's have very little of the forest roads or tanks.

I see. Maybe the onXmaps app has the AZ info you're looking for.

Hootsma,

I had similar battery issues with my iPhone 5. The 6 plus battery remedied that.

 

[twsnow18]

Your phone battery is shot. I use my iphone 6 for exactly everything that you do and I'll get an honest 5 days out of it. My first trip out with that new phone I packed the charger cord and one of those charger packs, but I didn't need it. Not even close. Just gotta make sure it's either in my pocket or in my sleeping bag at all times.

 

[danarnold]

Gaia on my iPhone 6 is killer. I have a Garmin rhino touch screen that I am less than thrilled with and even bring an external battery I feel like it's not a real weight penalty. The six has better battery life and have used exclusively for the last 1.5 years

 

[Kevin Root]

I'm sold on Gaia Pro. And, I also use the OnXmaps for places when I'm hunting areas with a lot of public land with private land boarders like I did recently on a 10 day hunt in CO . They both work similar but I like the Gaia interface better with maps, waypoints and plotting routes. I like the notes detail on waypoints, picture option so I can have for a journal type entry. The battery issue for me is not that bad. I just take a extra one with a Goal zero to charge it should I need to. I also use Gaia on my iPad. It does not come with a GPS but I plug in a small plugin from Bad Elf and it work the same as the iPhone but with a bigger screen for planning at base camp a bit. Only thing I don't care much for is having to download maps for offline use on them all. I'd like just having the whole state in high detail just to have what I need by state but overall I really like the interface in being able to pre plan on the computer and have it all sync up. I've found some map choices not as good as others on both services but for the most part I tend to stick to the Topo choices. It's just what I'm used to before GPS days. But there are so many map choices to the point it is almost overwhelming, for me at least and you can custom your own between multiple map overlays.

 

[AZGUY]

You can always take your phone into the Apple Store and have your battery tested if you think you are having problems. In AZ, I've always stuck to paper topo maps from caltopo that reference with my etrex that have always served me well.